Making Christmas Real for Kids

Club members will enjoy hearing about Jesus’ birth in a fresh, new way.

Darken the room and light one candle. Invite children to sit in silence and think of the first Christmas night. Read the Nativity story from the Bible. Then tell why, when Jesus grew up, he called himself the Light of the World. If desired, you could lead into a salvation presentation.

If your club members are older, let them light their own candles from the one, and brainstorm some ways we can be lights in the world to spread Jesus’ love and light this Christmas. Read John 8:12 and Matthew 5:14.

You will need round doll pins or clothespins without springs (check craft stores). Each child will need two pins plus one pin with the “legs” cut off. Supply club members with lots of fabric scraps, twine, craft glue and markers. To make Mary and Joseph, they wrap two pins in fabric and draw on faces. Twine makes a good belt for holding on the fabric while the glue dries. Baby Jesus is a half-pin wrapped up. (If you don’t have access to a saw, you can glue a wooden ball into the top of a roll of fabric for Baby Jesus.)

Children can decorate a piece of construction paper as a backdrop and fold it in half to make it stand up. Set Baby Jesus on a bed of raffia.

When club members are through, see if they can use the figures to reenact the Nativity story. Help them out with questions if they get stuck. Or read the Nativity story from an easy-to-read Bible and let them use their figures to act out what’s being read.

Provide card-making supplies for kids. Let them write “Happy Birthday, Jesus!” and “I’m glad you were born because __________.”

Have a prayer time where they read their cards aloud to Jesus at the end. Finish the time yourself by adding any other reasons that you would like the kids to think about.

Write each of the letters on a piece of paper, and give them to various club members to hold. Tell what each one stands for. If you have older kids, let them brainstorm their own ideas of what the letters could stand for, telling why they chose those words.

You’ll see several ideas marked “Option.” Choose one of the ideas to use if you want a more in-depth devotional.

C—Child. Mary was going to have a child, God’s own Son.

H—Heaven. God’s Son, Jesus, came from heaven to be born as a baby.

R—Register. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to register their names, because the ruler wanted to know how many people he ruled.

I—Inn. The people in the inn in Bethlehem didn’t make room for Mary and Joseph. (Option: Brainstorm ways we can make room for Jesus at Christmastime.)

S—Savior. Jesus would grow up to be our Savior—he saves us from our sins. (Option: Explain more about this if you want to present the plan of salvation.)

T—Three gifts. The Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus of gold, incense and myrrh. (Option: What gifts could we give Jesus?)

M—Manger. Mary placed Jesus in a feed box for animals because there was no room in the inn.

A—Angels. Angels announced Jesus’ birth to shepherds taking care of their sheep in the fields.

S—Shepherds. The shepherds came to see Baby Jesus and went away telling everyone about him. (Option: Talk about who we could tell about Jesus and what we could say.)